Demetri Martin. Person.

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All Rise...

Judge Clark Douglas. Extra-terrestrial.

The Charge

This is a DVD of a stand-up comedy special. The person in the special is
Demetri Martin.

The Case

If you haven't heard the name Demetri Martin, I have a sneaking suspicion
that you will before too long. Martin, a talented young comedian who was a
writer for Late Night with Conan O'Brien in 2003-2004, seems poised to
become a pretty big deal. Jon Stewart's production company is currently
developing Martin's own television show for Comedy Central, and Martin currently
has a couple of film projects in the works as well. His most recently completed
endeavor was this one-hour comedy special which aired on Comedy Central in early
2007. Fans of Martin's dry, understated sense of humor now have a chance to view
this stand-up routine again and again by watching Comedy Central…um, I
mean, by purchasing this DVD.

I like Demetri Martin. He's a funny guy, and this DVD offers a fairly solid
look at his style and sense of humor. Let's start with the main feature offered
here, Demetri Martin. Person. The 42-minute program (filmed in Austin,
Texas) is essentially divided into three different parts. Part one is what you'd
expect from a stand-up special, as Martin holds a microphone and tosses off some
stories and jokes of the "you know, I've got this friend who does the
funniest thing," variety. The material here is pretty funny, if
occasionally a little bit on the conventional side. Martin's own personality
really starts to shine through in the second part, where he presents some
amusing visual aids in the form of drawings and charts (all hand-drawn by
Martin). There's even a funny little animated sequence in which we are given
some rather hilarious information about various mythical creatures. Things take
a musical turn in part three, as the multi-talented Martin works various
instruments and clever songs into his routine. This last portion is also aided
by some goofy costumes being worn by Martin's friends and family member.

Martin's deceptively quiet delivery and considerable wit are a real
pleasure. It's also a pleasant surprise that he is finding such success,
considering that Comedy Central is a network that seems to support loud, noisy,
abrasive types. There's more humor to be found in the commentary track for the
DVD, in which Demetri is joined by his mother, sister, grandmother, and two
uncles. There's a lot of good-natured ribbing going on, and Demetri's
grandmother in particular is just delightful. There's also a few "deleted
scenes" from the special in which Demetri amusingly deals with various
problems such as hecklers or technical issues. These scenes are also accompanied
by commentary from the same crowd.

Further footage of Martin's comedy routines (including a twenty-minute
Comedy Central special and some clips from various tours) gives us further
laughs and insight into Martin's style. While the jokes run all over the map in
terms of content, Martin seems to have a particular fondness for two things. The
first is mythical creatures ("If you want to make a mythical creature, just
take any old animal and add wings to it"). The second is grammatical rules.
Grammatical rules? Yeah, grammatical rules. For instance, Demetri tells a story
about Scrooge getting visited by the ghosts of past, present, and future tense.
These delightful moments of wordplay are some of the highlights of the disc, and
are possibly rooted in Martin's law school education.

There are quite a few fun moments within the main feature and the bonus
features, but there are even some laughs that appear elsewhere on the DVD.
Everything is given a unique look thanks to Demetri's very recognizable writing
and artwork being featuring all over the packaging and the DVD menus. The back
of the case informs that, in addition to the special features, we are given some
non-special features such as "plastic security stickers, a UPC code, legal
information, and atoms." When you go to the bonus features menu, you're
treated to a fun little acoustic guitar tune about bonus features. Try to access
an area entitled "Nothing Here," and you'll get a good punch line. The
back of the tiny poster included in the packaging features a message: "Back
of tiny poster. See front." You get the idea; it's an entertainingly
packaged set, one that Martin evidently had a great deal of involvement in.

I enjoyed watching Demetri Martin. Person. quite a bit. If I had to
guess, I would say that I got about a dozen LOL (laugh out loud) laughs out of
it, and about two dozen LQTM (laughing quietly to myself) laughs out of it.
Though it would have been cool if the DVD could have included some of Martin's
wonderfully entertaining appearances as a correspondent on The Daily
Show, this is a pretty well-presented comedy special that offers more than
enough bonus material to make up for the brief running time of the main course.
Demetri Martin. Person. is more amusing and pleasant than it is riotously
entertaining, but I suspect it will sustain itself better with repeat viewings
than many comedy specials. Based on the contents of this DVD, I'm certainly
looking forward to seeing where this person known as Demetri Martin is going in
the future. Not guilty.